The Second Millenium

[Vince53]

Welcome to 1904!


The Welsh Revival brings about 100,000 converts in Wales. It spreads to England and Scotland, producing about 1 million converts. Lasting a little more than a year, the revival produces increased church attendance for the next two decades.

An American social worker, Elisabeth J. Magee was a socially conscious Quaker who demanded better treatment for the poor against the wealthy landowners. This year she patents her game, with real estate, railroads, utilities, rents, a bank, and even a jail. Thirty years later, another game inventor will use her game as the basis of “Monopoly.”



Intent on continued expansion, Russia needs a warm water port (a port that does not freeze during the winter) on the Pacific. Russia had been renting Port Arthur from China and was in conflict with Japan as both nations sought to expand on Asia’s Pacific coast. On February 4, Japan launches a surprise attack on the Russian fleet at Port Arthur, and Japan quickly gains virtual control of Asia’s Pacific coast. Russia hurries to send an Atlantic fleet to the Pacific, where it is destroyed by Japan. Russia’s inferior gunpowder and poor training are no match for British-trained Japanese gunners.



Hoping to overthrow their French conquerors, Vietnamese rebels quietly begin the “Eastern Study” movement. Vietnamese students are sent to Japan to study in the hopes that they will help overthrow the French.

 

[Vince53]

We return to 1904.

A Ford automobile hits 91 miles per hour.

A fire destroys over 1500 buildings in Baltimore, Maryland.

The US buys the Panama Canal Zone (without a canal) for $10 million.

Britain invades Tibet, the only Himalayan kingdom not under British rule or influence. Using modern rifles and machine guns, the British mow down a Tibetan army armed with swords and single-shot muzzle-loaders. After capturing the capital, the British force concessions and withdraw.

The Mormon Church outlaws polygamy.

A bumbling Russian fleet attacks British fishing boats off Britain's east coast, thinking they are a Japanese fleet.

 

[Vince53]

And now it is 1905!

France seizes large amounts of Catholic Church property, declaring that the government is secular and granting freedom of religion. Restrictions are eased when the Catholic Church concedes the right to appoint French bishops to the government.


Dissent in Russia is so severe that troops have to massacre peaceful protesters in order to keep control. Wracked by a bad economy, massive military defeats, and internal dissent, Russia signs a humiliating peace treaty with Japan. Russia drops all claims to Korea and Manchuria, and hands Port Arthur over to the Japanese. Most European and American nations support the Japanese victory--they feared Russia, but nobody is afraid of Japan.

More demonstrations and violent revolts break out in Russia, and the army is needed to suppress them.

Albert Einstein publishes a paper on light. He then begins working on his theory of relativity. And what does E=mc2 mean? It means that even a super-tiny amount of matter can be converted into a super-massive amount of energy. Although Einstein neither invents nor even works on the atom bomb, his theory shows nuclear weapons are possible.

Norway successfully declares itself independent of Sweden.

Britain takes a major, daring chance. On paper, they have invented the Dreadnought, a ship that makes every navy in the world obsolete. If anyone starts building dreadnoughts, the Royal Navy cannot defeat them. But if Britain starts building dreadnoughts, others will start, and Britain will have to scrap the largest navy in the world. The decision is made to go ahead.

The wild wolf becomes extinct in Japan.

 

[Vince53]

And so it is 1906.

The Pentecostal movement begins with the Asuza Street Revival in California. Emphasizing salvation by faith, to be followed by spiritual gifts, Pentecostalism explodes throughout the world.

Loosely speaking, a “charismatic” believes in spiritual gifts, often emphasizing speaking in tongues. Charismatics belong to a variety of religions, including Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran, etc. A “Pentecostal” is a charismatic who belongs to a denomination that is officially charismatic, such as The Assemblies of God. Today there are about 500,000,000 charismatics, which includes about 275 million Pentecostals. There are 67.5 million members of the Assemblies of God, making it the second-largest Christian denomination, after Catholicism.



How big was this revival?

Exact numbers are impossible, but there are about...

1.2 billion Catholics

275 million Pentecostals

265 million Orthodox (of different denominations).

100 million Baptists

85 million Anglicans (They had tremendous growth in Africa and other nations in the Twentieth Century, while declining in Britain and the US). The official position of the Anglican Church is that they are not Protestant and did not come out of the Protestant Reformation, but history contradicts this claim.

77.5 million Lutherans

70 million Presbyterians and Reformed (Prebyterian, Reformed, some Evangelical, and some Congregationalist denominations have nearly identical doctrines).

55 million Methodists

Whilie Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Methodists include many denominations that do not believe the Bible, the Assemblies of God remains Bible-believing.

Some Pentecostal denominations teach salvation by works such as baptism and speaking in tongues.

How big was the Pentecostal Revivlal? There are 275 million Pentecostals, while 232.5 million people belong to a denomination that actually came out of the Protestant Reformation.

 

[Vince53]

We return to 1906.

It's a bad year for Mother Nature. A major earthquake off the coast of Ecuador sends a tidal wave into Columbia, killing about 1,000 people. In Italy, Mount Vesuvius erupts, devastating Naples. 3,000 are killed and over a quarter of a million people are left homeless by an earthquake in San Francisco, California. An earthquake kills about 20,000 people in Chile. 10,000 people are killed by a typhoon and tidal wave in Hong Kong.

It only lasts twenty years, but a bloodless revolution forces the government of Persia (modern Iran) to grant freedom and democracy to its people.

Britain launches the HMS Dreadnought. Every other naval ship in the world is now a "pre-dreadnought." Heavily-equipped with large guns only, she is the fastest battleship in the world. An arms race begins as other nations (especially Germany) begin frantically building dreadnoughts.

Germany launches its first U-boat. These legendary submarines have to spend most of their time on the surface, but in a world that is not prepared for them, they will cost the Allies dearly in two world wars.

Finland becomes the first nation in the world to allow women to hold every political office.

 

[Vince53]

And in 1907...


Publication of “The Catholic Encyclopedia” begins. Although not the first attempt at a Catholic Encyclopedia, its scholarship and accuracy makes it a distinctive work. To the embarrassment of the Catholic Church, it proves that Catholic doctrine has changed over the decades.

About 11,000 peasants are massacred by the Romanian Army when they revolt over land ownership. A few wealthy landowners own most of the farmland, and they had started ordering long-term peasants off their land.

Japan completes its conquest of Korea, establishing a puppet government and military that are under Japanese control.

In Hungary, the Slovak minority build a Catholic church, and the Magyar Catholic majority quickly seize control. About 15 peaceful Slovaks are killed by police during a protest.

The Chilean Army kills over 2,000 striking mine workers.

Italy wins a 9,317 mile auto race from Peking to Paris. Cars were still a novelty, there were few roads and bridges designed for cars, and the winner arrived after 7 1/2 months.

 

[Vince53]

You aren't late! It's 1908!


The worst earthquake in European history kills almost 200,000 people in southern Italy.

Robert Baden-Powell effectively begins the Boy Scouts when he publishes a manual. Over time, over 100 million copies of the manual will be sold.

Oil is discovered in the Middle East. Britain quickly claims it.

The Tunkusga Event--it isn't known for certain, but it appears that a meteor explodes 4.5 miles over an uninhabited area of Siberia. No people are known to have been killed, but 80 million trees lose their lives.

It's big money for Britain--South America starts a Dreadnought arms race. The ships are built in England, providing jobs and profits, while South American nations are forced to increase their military spending to keep up with each other.

The Christian Science Monitor begins. A secular newspaper with a single religious article, it is published be the Church of Christ, Scientist as an alternative to sensationalist newspapers. It is still published on the web today.

Neanderthal Man is discovered. A sensational "proof" of evolution, it turns out that modern man existed before Neanderthal Man. Some combination of disease, sunshine deficiency, and ethnic differences are the apparent cause.

 

[Vince53]

1909 "My hope is built on nothing less, than Scofield's notes and references. I dare not trust the RSV, for it will only mislead me."


The Scofield Reference Bible is not the first study Bible, but it is the first successful one. With two major revisions still in print, its notes have been translated into seven other languages. Scofield himself had been decorated for heroism in the Confederate Army, forced out of politics because of his involvement in corruption, became an alcoholic, and then accepted Christ. He successfully pastored small Congregationalist churches after his conversion.

The short commentaries ( given on the same page as the verse) and chain references of the Scofield Bible made it a major influence on fundamentalist laymen. About 5 million copies have been printed.

Jewish refugees establish the city of Tel-Aviv in Israel.

Wanting to remove the recently-restored constitutional rights of Turks, the Ottoman Empire's army successfully revolts. They massacre about 25,000 Armenian Christians who had supported the restoration of rights.

The US Army purchases the first military airplane. The unarmed Wright Flyer is placed in the Army Signal Corps.

 

[Vince53]

Welcome to 1910!


The people of China overthrow their Emperor and become a republic. Rife with rebellion, poverty, corruption, and foreign interference, the new democratic government struggles to stabilize the giant, backward nation.

And frustrated at their corrupt government, Mexico begins the ten year “Mexican Revolution.” About 1,300,000 Mexicans are killed. When it is over in 1920, Mexico is a democracy.

Japan conquers Korea.

In Brazil, the first Pentecostal church in South America is founded. Today, the Assemblies of God make up 6.46% of the Brazilian population.

Loosely speaking, the fundamentalist movement begins in the US as a reaction against modernism. The fundamentalists produce no new doctrines, but insist on the historical beliefs of Protestantism. (For the record, I am a fundamentalist).

 

[Vince53]

1911


After defeating the Ottoman Empire, Italy seizes a large number of islands off Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, and also seizes Libya. Totally unprovoked, this prelude to World War 1 shows the tiny Balkan states how weak Turkey is, and some of them declare war. Italy flies the first aerial combat missions, even dropping the first aircraft bombs. But Turkey, using rifles, manages to shoot down the first airplane.

By constructing a temporary platform, and with help from the deck hands, the US Navy lands an airplane on a ship. The age of naval aviation begins.

The US and India each begin airmail service.

The winner of the first Indianapolis 500 averages a little less than 75 miles per hour.

Norwegian explorers reach the South Pole.

 

[Vince53]

1912 "Scott is dead. God save the Queen."


After being ridiculed at a revival meeting, Methodist evangelist George Bennard begins writing “The Old Rugged Cross,” finishing it next year.

Sun Yat-sen, a Chinese Christian, becomes leader of the Republic of China. One of history’s most revered statesmen, his dream of making China a free, prosperous nation is shattered later by World War 2. Sun Yat-sen’s own fragile government collapses in 1913.

Britain's Scott Expedition reaches the South Pole--and finds a Norwegian flag already there. On their return, the expedition risks their lives to gather fossils to support evolution. The delay causes them to be trapped in a blizzard 11 miles from a supply base. A legend of courage and nobility, Scott records the unselfish conduct of his dying men in his journal. And the fossils? They show that no evolution has occurred since Antarctica had a temperate climate.

The territories of New Mexico and Arizona become the 47th and 48th states.

Italy destroys a Turkish fleet off Beirut, Lebanon, guaranteeing Italian ships safe passage to the Suez Canal.

In the US, the Girl Scouts are founded.

After striking an iceberg, the Titanic sinks. Examination of the wreck shows that the rivets burst apart after the impact, allowing the gash to get larger--otherwise, the stricken ship would not have sunk.

The greatest volcanic eruption of the Twentieth Century occurs on an isolated southwestern Alaska peninsula. There are no casualties.

Taisho begins his 14 year reign as Emperor of Japan. Partially paralyzed by a worsening condition, his decisions are usually made by his family. His son is eventually appointed Regent.

Tarzan swings into action for the first time--in a magazine story.

A college professor fakes Piltdown Man by rubbing a skull with acid.

 

[Vince53]

1913


An American becomes the first woman to parachute from an airplane.

Enver Pasha, a high-ranking officer, seizes control of the Ottoman Empire. He will lead Turkey into World War 1 as a German ally and will lead his nation in the Armenian massacres. Meanwhile, Greece seizes some Ottoman forts still held within Greece.

And a Chinese officer, Yuan Shikai, seizes the government of China and attempts to make himself Emperor.

With the Supreme Court declaring one tax after another unconstitutional, the US passes a Constitutional Amendment allowing an income tax. Good, bad, or ugly, the US government has never stopped growing in power ever since.

It's 134 F in Death Valley, still the highest-recorded temperature on Earth.

Stainless steel, which resists rust much better than regular steel, is invented.

Ford Motor Company improves the assembly line, with a worker doing the same task repeatedly. This speeds up both production and quality, and ultimately increases world-wide manufacturing.

Britain launches the first oil-powered battleship. Although serving in both world wars in bombarding land positions, it never does well in naval combat.

 

[Vince53]

1914


Benedict XV begins his seven year reign as Pope. After failing to negotiate a peaceful end to World War 1, he actively provided food to war-torn areas and helped enforce decent treatment of POWs. Both France and Italy were hostile to his efforts, but he was able to restore good relations with both after the war ended.

In the US, the Assemblies of God is founded. The largest Pentecostal denomination, it is second only to Catholicism as the largest Christian denomination.

Someone finally gets it right! The US Navy completes the dreadnought USS Texas, which serves with distinction in two world wars. A floating museum today, it is the only dreadnought left.

Japan's greatest Twentieth Century volcano produces so much lava that it combines several small islands (including itself) with a large island.

Blood transfusions are invented. No, it is not true that a Black doctor invented blood transfusions and later died when hospitals refused to give him one because he was Black.

As different Mexican forces fight for control during their civil war, the US invades and occupies Vera Cruz in order to protect US citizens and property. This produces so much hostility that Mexico remains neutral during WW1 and maintains trade with Germany during the war.

Turkey begins massacring Greeks who live in Turkey.

We'll return tomorrow...

 

[Vince53]

We return to 1914--a year so bad that we still haven't recovered from it.

June 28---The Austro-Hungarian Empire had included large numbers of Serbs who had often been mistreated, leading to an independence movement. However, Archduke Franz Ferdinand's kind treatment of the Serbs had weakened support of the independence movement. A Serbian nationalist therefor assassinates the Archduke and his wife.

The problem in Europe was that no one wanted to be invaded. Therefor, the nations' military plans called for fast invasions of others. Since everybody knew this, whoever waited for diplomacy to solve a problem was likely to be invaded first. And since Austro-Hungary wanted to conquer Serbia anyway, Europeans start making secret agreements and alliances, often in violation of existing treaties.

July 28 to August 12-- Austro-Hungary declares war on Serbia and immediately attacks. Russia mobilizes to defend Serbia, so Germany declares war on Russia. Germany invades tiny Luxembourg, declares war on France, and invades Belgium (hoping to use Belgium to bypass French defenses on the German border). The British Empire then declares war on Germany. Australia seizes an unarmed German freighter and uses it throughout the war. Austro-Hungary declares war on Russia. Britain declares war on Austro-Hungary.

August 23--Wanting to seize German territories in the Pacific, Japan declares war on Germany.

September 7--Turkey declares war on Belgium.

October 27--Without declaring war, Greece begins seizing parts of the Ottoman Empire.

November 5--Britain and France declare war on Turkey.

In the beginning, the Central Powers crash to victory on several fronts. But the Allies win some key victories, stalling the Central advances.

 

[Vince53]

1915 brings us to a world at war.


Breaking its treaties with Germany and Austria-Hungary, Italy enters World War 1 on the side of the Allies. A financial disaster, the war leaves the victorious Italians with a collapsed economy, while France and Britain ruthlessly exploit Italy’s inability to protect its interests, helping to lay the foundations of World War 2.

The US Army sets an altitude record when it flies an airplane over two miles high.

More than 30,000 Italians are killed in an earthquake.

German zeppelins bomb England.

The US makes the first long-distance call from New York City to San Francisco.

Germany fires 18,000 poison gas shells at Russian troops, but freezing weather makes the poison almost useless.

The planet Pluto is first photographed; it is later demoted to a dwarf. Why? Wobbles in the orbits of the outer planets had led scientists to realized that a ninth planet existed, and they even calculated the mass and orbit. They knew where to look when they first photographed Pluto (a pinpoint of light, visible only with a powerful telescope). But over the decades, it turned out that Pluto was actually two planets orbiting each other, with four other tiny moons. Since the largest planet (still classed "Pluto") is much smaller than thought, it was demoted to a dwarf.

The Ottoman Empire begins massacring about 1.5 million Armenian Christians in the first great genocide of the Twentieth Century.

Babe Ruth hits his first home run.

Lightly-armed and carrying war supplies, the British passenger ship Lusitania is sunk by a U-boat. An enraged United States becomes openly sympathetic to the Allies as a result.

A German airplane becomes the first plane to shoot down another plane.

With Haiti in economic and political chaos, the US fears it will be invaded by Europeans. So the US invades, staying for nineteen years.

Britain invents the tank. The US installs the first electric railroad.

Bulgaria enters the war on the Central side, hoping to seize Serbia. The Bulgarians quickly find themselves with more enemies than they can handle, as the Allies declare war on them.

The "Stop" sign is invented.

 

[Vince53]

The 1915 film "Birth of a Nation" warps American thinking so badly that it needs its own article.

Falsely claiming to be based on reality, the film called for kind treatment of Black Americans, teaching that they were happy under both slavery and segregation. The film taught clearly and frequently that Blacks who called for equality did so only so that they could marry White women.

It portrayed the then-extinct Ku Klux Klan as noble defenders of Christianity and White women, inspiring audiences with the heroic actions of Klansmen against both Black and White evil-doers. But history has turned up a surprising fact--the Ku Klux Klan was a tiny organization that barely existed in the South after the Civil War. Its terrorism got it a lot of publicity, but both military and law enforcement records show that it only existed in small numbers in a few places.

Inspired by the film, the Klan grew so rapidly in the US that they actually staged a large march in Washington. But when federal investigations showed that the Klan was behind various murders, membership rapidly declined, as many of its members had thought they were joining a noble Christian organization, not a terrorist group.

The film did help heal the wounds of the Civil War by portraying the nobility of both Confederate and Union soldiers

 

[Vince53]

1916


Zwditu I is crowned Empress of Ethiopia, the only female head of state in the world at that time. Politically conservative and devoutly religious, she was helped by the government’s pulling her relatives out of power, because the relatives could not be trusted. She quickly defeated two minor uprisings and reluctantly let her appointed heir modernize Ethiopia. She allowed her country to join the League of nations and abolish slavery. When she died in 1930, Haile Selassie took the throne.


The US commissions the super-dreadnought USS Pennsylvania, the most powerful warship the world had ever seen. But its liquid fuel-burning engines make it too advanced for World War 1, so she spends the war near the US. It is quickly made the flagship of the Atlantic fleet.To this day, the Pennsylvania holds the record for firing the most shots of any ship in history.

After a massive failure, defeated British and Allied troops withdraw from Turkey.

German zeppelins bomb Paris.

The US arrests an anarchist for teaching about birth control.

The ten month long Battle of Verdun begins. With over 300,000 deaths and twice as many wounded, the battle ends in a German defeat, with France still holding the city of Verdun.

Having been defeated by Mexican forces, the bandit and revolutionary leader Pancho Villa crosses the border to raid Columbus, New Mexico for badly-needed supplies. But recently-arrived US forces drive the invaders out, and the US invades Mexico in an attempt to capture Villa. Although failing in its main goal, the US stabilizes northern Mexico, allowing the Mexican government to establish control.

A brigade of Irish Catholic volunteers had fought so ferociously in France that Germany unleashes a massive poison gas attack on them. Irish losses are so heavy that survivors have to be combined with other troops.

Britain and Germany fight the massive but inconclusive Battle of Jutland. The Royal Navy loses more lives, ships, and tonnage, but they are able to repair their ships while the Germans cannot. Except for one major sortie, most of the German Navy will spend the rest of the war in port.

German spies destroy an American ammunition dump in New Jersey that was supplying the Allies. The explosion was so massive that it damaged the Statue of Liberty in New York.

British tanks enter the war. The first one is captured and used by the Germans, but the British capture it back.

Britain also launches the Sopwith Camel, which still holds the record for shooting down more aircraft than any other type. So difficult to fly, more pilots are killed in training than in combat.

 

[Vince53]

Welcome to 1917


About 65,000 people assemble near Fatima, Portugal, after three shepherd children claim to have seen Mary, who had promised to perform a miracle that day at noon. For about ten minutes, “The Miracle of the Sun” astounds the onlookers, as the Sun appears to zig-zag through the sky, flashing various colors. Observers incuded college professors, newspaper reporters, and Protestant missionaries, who also observed the phenomenon. Large numbers of onlookers saw nothing unusual, and no unusual solar activity was observed by observatories around the world.


Was it a mass vision? It couldn’t have been mass hallucination, because too many people saw the same thing (although they differed on exact details). Staring at the Sun does produce the appearance of moving spots of light. The Catholic Church has declared it to be a miracle, and it cannot be proven or disproven.

Taking advantage of World War 1 (which tied up French troops), a large prison in Vietnam revolts. Guards, political prisoners, common criminals, and large numbers of civilians join the six-day revolt before being defeated by France.

Carefully staying neutral in World War 1, despite German promises of restored American land, Mexico passes the constitution that is still in effect. Civil wars continue throughout the nation, however, as the government struggles to become stable.

Chalk’s International Airlines only flew from Florida to the Bahamas, but when the US shuts it down 90 years later, it will be the longest-lasting airline in history.

 

[Vince53]

We return to 1917.

Half a million pieces of ammunition explode during a fire at a US munitions plant. Although German spies get the blame, the US will later determine that the fire was an accident.

The US purchases the Danish West Indies in the Caribbean, renaming it the US Virgin Islands. The 51,000 people crowded onto this poverty-stricken territory depend on fishing, working for the US military base, and US food donations. Why? Because the Caribbean has more people than the fish can feed.

British spies hand the US a German message, promising Mexico the southwestern US if Mexico will declare war.

The Russian Empire collapses amid rioting and food shortages.

The US declares war on Germany, wanting to make the world safe for democracy. Winston Churchill will later state that it was a disaster--without US aid, European nations would have been forced to make a just peace that would have prevented World War 2. Greece and Brazil also declare war on Germany.

Revolts and civil wars break out in France, Italy, and Russia over the cost of the war.

Communists overthrow the new democratic government of Russia.

 

[Vince53]

Things get worse in 1918 before they get better.

The 1918 Flu Pandemic begins. It will eventually kill about 75 million people, 4% of the world population, a higher percentage than either WW1 or WW2. About 1/3 of the world will become infected, although most survive.

Russian Communists execute the Czar and his entire family, permanently ending the Russian monarchy. But as Communists seize control of Russia, several areas declare their independence. Most are later reconquered, although Poland survives as a nation.

A defeated Russia makes peace with Germany under brutal terms. Later, this will be used to justify the brutal terms of Germany's own defeat.

The Yaqui Indians had been at war with Mexico for some time. They would often enter the US, work peacefully in orange groves, buy supplies with their pay, and return to Mexico. In the US Army's last battle with Indians, a small American force encounters 30 armed Yaqui in Arizona. The US wins the brief battle.

After 80 confirmed "kills,"Germany's legendary Red Baron is shot down, making a perfect landing with a bullet in his heart. Canadian ace Roy Brown, already an alcoholic, will never shoot down another plane.

Mama mia! Two small Italian torpedo boats sink an Austro-Hungarian dreadnought.

No joke! Mexican forces, militia, and rebels, aided by German advisers, invade the United States. In the only WW1 battle fought in the US, they are defeated by a small American force.

Britain and Egypt spend much of the year defeating Turkey in several battles for the Holy land.

November 11, 1918--With revolutions breaking out in Germany and their navy in mutiny, Germany signs an armistice, ending the war. Much of eastern Europe, seized by the Germans from Russia, is converted into independent nations.